Half-tonne man gets married... after being taken to the wedding in a custom-made truck

The world's heaviest male - known as Half-Tonne Man - has got married, after being taken to the ceremony in his custom-made bed on the back of a flatbed truck.

Mexican Manuel Uribe, 43, wore a white satin shirt and had a sheet wrapped round his legs as he wed his longtime girlfriend, Claudia Solis, in front of 400 guests in a civil ceremony in Monterrey, northern Mexico.The bed - which Uribe hasn't left in six years - was decorated with a canopy, flowers and gold-trimmed bows.

Two police patrol cars escorted him ahead of a long line of traffic.

Uribe tipped the scales in 2006 at 1,230 pounds (560 kilograms), earning him the Guinness Book of World Records' title for the world's heaviest man.

He has since shed about 550 pounds (250 kilograms) with the help of Claudia, whom he met four years ago.He said: 'I am proof that you can find love in any circumstances. It's all a question of faith. All I want is to be happy and to love and be loved. And today is a very special day because of that.'

It took an hour to take Uribe to the ceremony 10 miles away with the efforts of over ten men with two tow-trucks - one a spare - and a police escort at hand. All the time Uribe waving to well-wishers and the many journalists and photographers present.When he arrived at the wedding venue, Club de Leones, it took 20 minutes to lower the tow-truck's ramp over the hall's steps and then rotate his bed before pushing it through the venue's large front doors.

The bride was mobbed by more than 30 photographers when she arrived half an hour later in a black jeep.Happy: Claudia Solis arrives for her wedding

Happy: Claudia Solis arrives for her wedding

She said: 'I'm not nervous. I'm just very happy. It's a very special day for us. We are marrying because we are in love.'

The couple met four years ago when Claudia, 38, visited to tell him that her then-husband, a school friend of Manuel's, had died - due to complications from being morbidly obese.

They grew closer due to their dedication to Christianity and eventually started a romantic relationship, including sex, they say.

After the wedding ceremony there was a huge banquet with three huge cakes - which the groom vowed not to eat, as he is still dieting, in the hope that he will shed enough weight that he can walk again.

The main dish was a chicken with vegetables. Uribe said: 'It is a heavyweight wedding, but low in calories.'

The whole thing was arranged in less than a month when the couple decided they could not wait to wed. Friends, local politicians and sponsors donated money to help pay.